S40.E05: The Buddy System on Steroids

[Whimsy]

WARNING.  THE DESCRIPTION CONTAINS A SPOILER.  DON'T READ FURTHER IF YOU WANT TO STAY SURPRISED

Spoiler

 

Original airdate 3/11/20

Do not post in this thread until after the episode has aired.

[mojoween]

Yul was an absolute smokeshow during Cook Islands.  He is an exponentially bigger smokeshow now.  How is that possible?

I cried during the clip of Jonathan and Stacy.  Especially seeing her now compared to then, which is not a very long time at all.  I feel like it’s not enough, but I donated again to ALS research hoping anything will help.

Michele can go any time now.  That’s gross.

Rob thinking he was in control in Marquesas is why he was bounced, tribe swap or not.  Also, Hunter says hey.

GODDAMMIT YOU FUCKING FUCKERS I HATE YOU

[Guest]

Rats. Oh well, as with Amber, now that Rob's out I can relax and stop worrying about him. I guess all my worrying goes toward Parvati now. I just wish more of the people I don't particularly care about were going to EoE (and unfortunately, they were featured heavily tonight bleh)

Nice to see Rob give his token to Parvati. I guess they're saving his reunion with Amber for a full segment next episode.

Can't wait for more discussions about whether or not Rob is a bully XD

Edited March 12, 2020 by tracyscott76
adding more complaining lol

[LadyChatts]

5 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Yul was an absolute smokeshow during Cook Islands.  He is an exponentially bigger smokeshow now.  How is that possible?

I cried during the clip of Jonathan and Stacy.  Especially seeing her now compared to then, which is not a very long time at all.  I feel like it’s not enough, but I donated again to ALS research hoping anything will help.

Michele can go any time now.  That’s gross.

Rob thinking he was in control in Marquesas is why he was bounced, tribe swap or not. 

Well, he was in control, but he seemed to left out a key detail in that the tribe he was on was losing.  And losing.  And losing.  Sooner or later he was going to find himself on the bottom, tribe swap or not.  

Agree about Michele.  Did not think that was a good look for her tonight.  Seemed very catty.  

Quote

 

Rats. Oh well, as with Amber, now that Rob's out I can relax and stop worrying about him. I guess all my worrying goes toward Parvati now. I just wish more of the people I don't particularly care about were going to EoE.

Nice to see Rob give his token to Parvati. I guess they're saving his reunion with Amber for a full segment next episode.

 

I'm sad that all the old schoolers are biting the dust.  I will always say, they played this game when it was challenging.  Heck, they barely give out clues anymore for idols, and they are always hidden in the same type of spot.  I worried about some of Yul's comments tonight, about being worried that he was coming in and not being super connected to people.  I feel that's an advantage the new schoolers have with each other.

Edited March 12, 2020 by LadyChatts

[Haleth]

FINALLY someone gets smart and votes Rob off!  And they didn’t even use an idol. And the women even got around the buddy system and somehow communicated with Adam and Ben.  Well done, ladies!

The Penners made me sad.  I’m glad Yul is still close to them  

I agree about Michele not looking good.  But I’m a Wendel fan  

And no EoE island shenanigans. 

Edited March 12, 2020 by Haleth

[Maggie Mae]

I really enjoyed Sarah and Sophie this episode.  Glad Rob was voted out but that means he will monopolize EoE.  I want to see more of Natalie.

[SoWindsor]

Sarah & Sophie were confident enough not to use their advantage so we definitely didn’t see something.

The editing made this one confusing. 

[LanceM]

I wonder how much immunity idols cost because Parvati is now the richest player on the island and she almost certainly needs one if that tribal loses next week.

I like Rob but I am kinda glad he is gone. He was sucking up too much time.

[CletusMusashi]

How did Ben and Adam go to the bathroom while under the "buddy system?" 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, LanceM said:

I wonder how much immunity idols cost because Parvati is now the richest player on the island and she almost certainly needs one if that tribal loses next week.

My dream scenario for that tribe (pure fantasy speculation) is that Parvati bonds with Yul over old school Cook Islands memories and reels in schoolboy crush Nick, and they take out the other two. Never gonna happen, but I'd enjoy that.

 

4 minutes ago, LanceM said:

I like Rob but I am kinda glad he is gone. He was sucking up too much time.

It is kind of a relief, surprisingly. Him getting voted out was inevitable, so now it's happened and we can all move on.

[truthaboutluv]

11 minutes ago, tracyscott76 said:

Can't wait for more discussions about whether or not Rob is a bully XD

lol, good times. 

I do think Rob played this badly and actually showed that despite what he said in his talking head after the challenge, he was very nervous. And so he did the thing he himself has spoken about in the past about not doing. He played scared. 

That "we can't move" play was the absolute wrong one to pull with two guys who already weren't that close to or trusting of him. It just furthered their resolve of his being too dangerous a player to keep around. 

[Rachel RSL]

FINALLY! I like Rob but I can’t believe he lasted as long as he did. And we can’t even blame it on the tribe swap because his old tribe had the numbers. I was really worried we’d lose Sarah. Pretty ballsy of neither woman to play their advantages. WTF was Adam doing after voting? Looking for an idol or something?

The Yul/Wendell tribe looks unstoppable. Nothing but challenge powerhouses on that tribe. I don’t usually keep up with the personal lives of players but, damn, now I really want to know what went down with Wendell and Michelle. Sounds like he did something douchey.

I love Yul. Hearing about Penner’s wife was so sad. I bet they’re going through hell.

Did they even show EoE tonight? I did not miss it.

[Maggie Mae]

6 minutes ago, SoWindsor said:

Sarah & Sophie were confident enough not to use their advantage so we definitely didn’t see something.

The editing made this one confusing. 

There were some clues but nothing clear  When they first arrived at camp and were talking one on one, Sophie and Sarah said they thought they could trust Ben and Adam who definitely were pushing Rob under a bus ...a bit anyway. Also some of the talking heads from Ben and Adam leaned toward them voting off BR.  It was when Ben mouthed 'Rob' as they were heading out to Tribal that probably cemented it.   Of course, there could be a number of scenes on the cutting room floor.

[truthaboutluv]

1 minute ago, tracyscott76 said:

It is kind of a relief, surprisingly. Him getting voted out was inevitable, so now it's happened and we can all move on.

And why all the "Rob is going to win, this season is boring and predictable" talk baffled me after only like two episodes. Because I thought it was glaringly obvious from the start of the season that Rob was not long for this season. 

His game is too in your face and so because of that the target on him is always massive. I didn't for a second see people like Sophie, Sarah, Yul, etc. wanting to keep a player like Rob around. So I knew that even if he somehow managed to squeak by in Sele, either a swap or post-merge, they would get him. 

[SoWindsor]

3 minutes ago, Maggie Mae said:

It was when Ben mouthed 'Rob' as they were heading out to Tribal that probably cemented it. 

I missed that. Makes more sense that the women didn’t use the advantage.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Rachel RSL said:

WTF was Adam doing after voting? Looking for an idol or something?

Probably. They've shown him doing that before but this instance went on awhile. I can't decide if it's foreshadowing, or just more of this hapless waif story they've got going for him.

Part of me wonders if Rob himself was a little relieved to go, deep down. I'm sure he wanted to win and didn't sabotage himself or anything, but losing Amber and Ethan via vote-outs and Parvati via swap made the tall order of surviving that much taller.

Edited March 12, 2020 by tracyscott76

[Haleth]

Has Yul done any puzzles?  I thought this one would be in his wheelhouse. He’s playing a very UTR game. 

[mojoween]

The talking head they showed with Rob where he expressed his absolute confidence made it obvious he was going.  Thanks, editors.

[truthaboutluv]

Quote

OK Good!  Then Ben is a much better actor than I thought and Sarah/Sophie were awesome.  Can you pinpoint the part in the episode where the entire tribe turned against Rob?

Repeating what I wrote in the Live Thread. The first half of the episode, before the immunity challenge happened, set up who was in danger in each tribe and it was obvious it was Rob for the green tribe. They showed Sophie flat out saying she didn't want to work with him and want him in the game and her and Sarah talking with Adam and Ben. 

The whole not leaving camp thing certainly didn't help his case but it was clear right from the start that the makeup of that tribe was the worse case scenario for Rob. Sarah and Sophie weren't interested in keeping a player like him around and Adam and Ben were not super tight with him. 

37 minutes ago, mojoween said:

The talking head they showed with Rob where he expressed his absolute confidence made it obvious he was going.  Thanks, editors.

Seriously. Like I said, the whole thing was just pretty anti-climatic. 

Edited March 12, 2020 by truthaboutluv

[truthaboutluv]

12 minutes ago, Maggie Mae said:

There were some clues but nothing clear  When they first arrived at camp and were talking one on one, Sophie and Sarah said they thought they could trust Ben and Adam who definitely were pushing Rob under a bus ...a bit anyway. Also some of the talking heads from Ben and Adam leaned toward them voting off BR. 

To me those things made it very clear. Because notice we saw no scenes of Rob talking to Sarah or Sophie. Maybe he did try. But what we saw in the episode made it appear that he made no connection and headway with them, while Adam and Ben did. And then we saw Sophie and  Sarah repeatedly saying it was down to which way Adam and Ben chose to go.

At no point was there the discussion of going for Ben instead or Adam. The only one talking about one of the women was really Rob. Rob was screwed and had zero chance in that tribe without an idol to save his ass. And the "let's no one move from camp" did not help endear him in any way to these people. Though I'm still confused as to why Sarah and Sophie were doing it. 

[LadyChatts]

14 minutes ago, Rachel RSL said:

FINALLY! I like Rob but I can’t believe he lasted as long as he did. And we can’t even blame it on the tribe swap because his old tribe had the numbers. I was really worried we’d lose Sarah. Pretty ballsy of neither woman to play their advantages. WTF was Adam doing after voting? Looking for an idol or something?

The Yul/Wendell tribe looks unstoppable. Nothing but challenge powerhouses on that tribe. I don’t usually keep up with the personal lives of players but, damn, now I really want to know what went down with Wendell and Michelle. Sounds like he did something douchey.

I love Yul. Hearing about Penner’s wife was so sad. I bet they’re going through hell.

Did they even show EoE tonight? I did not miss it.

You mean at the actual voting station?  I don't think he could get the top on the urn.  

I really hope that Yul's tribe is unstoppable because, as I say every week, I'm worried for him.  Michele/Parvati are a tight pair by the looks of it.  Nick/Wendell/Yul also seem tight, but all the girls would need to do is try and win over one of the guys.  It doesn't sound like they have any interest in working with Wendell, and Nick seems pretty loyal, so that might leave Yul.  But who knows.  

[OutOfTheQuestion]

24 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

Agree about Michele.  Did not think that was a good look for her tonight.  Seemed very catty. 

The only thing I found odd was Michele's "who could've guessed I'd be on the same tribe as my ex-boyfriend?" when it's like, uh, you're both part of a select group of 39 Survivor winners, and you're both on a 20-person cast.  The odds aren't that astronomical.  If anything, given this drama, I would've expected the show to put Michele and Wendell on the same tribe on day one.

Besides that, Michele didn't come off "catty" or unusual at all.  If anything, it seemed like the show took her side to some extent, in whatever the acrimony was between her and Wendell.  She got multiple confessionals about it, even Parvati got a lot of time to discuss it, and Wendell's only comment was the "you know, we kicked it" confessional.  He couldn't have looked less comfortable discussing the topic.

I was wondering after last week's preview if Michele and Wendell's relationship was common knowledge to any other players, and so far we only know that Parvati knows.  It'll be interesting to see if or how Nick and Yul react if they learn the news, if they don't already know.  They could consider it shady of Wendell if he didn't fill them in upon being grouped onto a tribe with Michele.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, truthaboutluv said:

Because notice we saw no scenes of Rob talking to Sarah or Sophie. Maybe he did try. But what we saw in the episode made it appear that he made no connection and headway with them, while Adam and Ben did.

Well there was a brief scene of Rob talking to Sophie, but it was part of the montage of "the guys are not that tight, maybe we have a chance!" Agreed that there wasn't much of Rob compared to Adam and Ben talking strategy with Sophie and Sarah.

 

5 minutes ago, truthaboutluv said:

And the "let's no one move from camp" did not help endear him in any way to these people. Though I'm still confused as to why Sarah and Sophie were doing it.

Sarah and Sophie lost me a little bit there. I get that it was frustrating not being able to solidify things with Ben and Adam, but they were acting like they themselves couldn't leave, either. "I'm not gonna sit in the playpen" -- ok, Sarah, then get up and go for a walk!

Edited March 12, 2020 by tracyscott76

[MerBearHou]

21 minutes ago, mojoween said:

The talking head they showed with Rob where he expressed his absolute confidence made it obvious he was going.  Thanks, editors.

OMG totally.  So obvious.  I even said “Bye Rob” out loud in my house when they showed that talking head.  

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

32 minutes ago, Rachel RSL said:

[...] WTF was Adam doing after voting? Looking for an idol or something? [...]

Read more  

You mean at the actual voting station?  I don't think he could get the top on the urn.

No, after fiddling with the urn lid, Adam also scanned around the whole voting kiosk as he was turning to leave. He was a-huntin', for sure.

Edited March 12, 2020 by tracyscott76

[ProfCrash]

34 minutes ago, LanceM said:

I wonder how much immunity idols cost because Parvati is now the richest player on the island and she almost certainly needs one if that tribal loses next week.

I like Rob but I am kinda glad he is gone. He was sucking up too much time.

Glad Rob is gone. It was about damn time. And it was stupid to think that the buddy system would work. No offense, all Ben or Adam had to do at tribal council was say they were voting for Rob and it was done. 

Parvati has to have someone sell her an advantage or idol. Rob, Amber, Ethan and Tyson will probably direct things to Parvati but they have to find them. Natalie has the tokens for an advantage in the playback. She is not going to send squat to Parvati.

[vb68]

As I said in the Live Chat, Rob has always been overrated. I can't believe he thought that "buddy system" would work in an all-winners season. I can't tell if he was supremely confident or freaking out in his head and super nervous.

Why did they make a statue of him again?

I thought Michele came off somewhat immature. Who knows what really happened. I kinda appreciated Wendell not trying to play dueling confessionals.

Yul got a golden edit. Not saying he's gonna win, but that was one of the best edits in the past few years.  

Edited March 13, 2020 by vb68

[LanceM]

1 minute ago, vb68 said:

As i said in the Live Chat, Rob has always been overrated. I can't believe he thought that "buddy system" would work in an all-winners season. I can't tell if he was mega confident or freaking out in his head and super nervous.

Why did they make a statue of him again?

I thought Michele came off somewhat immature. Who knows what really happened. I kinda appreciated Wendell not trying to play dueling confessionals.

Yul got a golden edit. Not saying he's gonna win, but that was one of the best edits in the past few years.  

Well you should be more impressed with the editors for not showing them (if indeed he talked about Michele and I have to assume the producers would have asked him)

[SHD]

Who did Rob give his fire token to? DVR cut off just as he raised his hand to drop it in.

[MerBearHou]

I felt like Michelle came across as someone who still had feelings for Wendell — she called him her ex-boyfriend but then said they only went out a short time so boyfriend seems like a stretch. Wendell came across as someone who didn’t feel the same for her as she felt for him.  I didn’t think he seemed douchey and I didn’t think she seemed catty.  It just felt “unbalanced” in who liked who more during their dating spell.

And yeah, Wendell’s a cautious, observant player.  It seemed like Michelle felt a little spurned that he didn’t want to immediately team up with her again on the new tribe.

Edited March 12, 2020 by MerBearHou

[LanceM]

1 minute ago, SHD said:

Who did Rob give his fire token to? DVR cut off just as he raised his hand to drop it in.

He had two tokens. He gave both of them to Parvati

[truthaboutluv]

1 minute ago, SHD said:

Who did Rob give his fire token to? DVR cut off just as he raised his hand to drop it in.

Parvati

[Guest]

1 minute ago, SHD said:

Who did Rob give his fire token to? DVR cut off just as he raised his hand to drop it in.

Parvati.

1 minute ago, MerBearHou said:

I felt like Michelle came across as someone who still had feelings for Wendell — she called him her ex-boyfriend but then said they only went out a short time so boyfriend seems like a stretch. Wendell came across as someone who didn’t feel the same for her as she felt for him.  I didn’t think he seemed douchey and I didn’t think she seemed catty.  It just felt “unbalanced” in who liked who more during their dating spell.

The whole thing was just awkward, and I agree that a lot of that came from their seemingly differing views of (or at least comments on) the relationship. The only part of that whole bit I enjoyed was Parvati's reaction to it.

[vb68]

4 minutes ago, LanceM said:

Well you should be more impressed with the editors for not showing them (if indeed he talked about Michele and I have to assume the producers would have asked him)

True, but there's no way to know for sure. He still seemed as if he dealt with the situation better in my opinion.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, LanceM said:

He had two tokens. He gave both of them to Parvati

Oooo, I forgot he had two to give away! All in on Parvati!

[PaperTree]

1 hour ago, tracyscott76 said:

Can't wait for more discussions about whether or not Rob is a bully XD

He was certainly a bully tonight with his lockdown decree.

[willco]

Oh, no ! Poor Rob, I feel really bad for him ! ( Heavy sarcasm intended !) 😆

 

Seriously, I can't believe that he got anyone to trust him in the game, not even that he might backstab you, but he's good at working people to his advantage. Why take the chance & drag him along ? Now, if only they could get Sandra and Parvati out, too. Of course, the problem with this season is that these dangerous players could just as easily flourish on E.I. and come back into the game & win it, just like it happened when they did E.I. before. And I think that would make me even madder if one of those players did it that way & won-- and now, that's probably what will happen ! Man, I hope not.

[Eolivet]

1 hour ago, tracyscott76 said:

I can't decide if it's foreshadowing, or just more of this hapless waif story they've got going for him.

Emphasis mine.

Because the image of Adam as a hapless waif is so perfect, I've been chuckling about it for the last hour. He gets lost on the way to the water well! He can't figure out where to put the torch! He makes you nasty coconut soup! He falls down while collecting firewood!

Dear Adam, truly this season's damsel in distress.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Eolivet said:

Emphasis mine.

Because the image of Adam as a hapless waif is so perfect, I've been chuckling about it for the last hour. He gets lost on the way to the water well! He can't figure out where to put the torch! He makes you nasty coconut soup! He falls down while collecting firewood!

Dear Adam, truly this season's damsel in distress.

Ben seems to have recovered from the star-struck, goofy edit he had early on, so there's hope for Adam, too, I guess.

9 minutes ago, PaperTree said:

He was certainly a bully tonight with his lockdown decree.

Rob suggested they all stay at camp to avoid side conversations, and Adam and Ben went along with it. Don't really think that was bullying, more just Rob trying to hold on however he could think of, and them going along to keep Rob from trying anything else, since they were probably already committed to voting him out by that point.

[PaperTree]

I think Michelle is being very sly and playing the playahs.  Parvati seemed to think she was running that conversation and sucking Michelle in, but I'm not so sure.

She's my UTR favorite.

eta:  Sandra is sly too.

Edited March 12, 2020 by PaperTree

[Lady Calypso]

So, this was an episode that I wasn't really surprised about. I think Rob made a couple of blunders with trying to steamroll his shaky alliance of three, and that didn't help him in any way.

Hint: if you trust them enough to not flip, you wouldn't have needed to tell them to stay at camp..or else, I guess? So he obviously proved in that moment that he doesn't trust them, which means that Adam/Ben are sure that Rob has no loyalty to them. Which, fine, neither to Sarah/Sophie so they're in a bit of a bind.

Plus, even though Rob was clearly nervous and anticipating his potential demise, his whole "well, if they have idols, who cares?" attitude made me tilt my head. I guess it was to diminish the danger he was definitely in, but you'd think that he would try another plan. Since, you know, if Sophie or Sarah had idols and if you people sat at camp long enough, they'd get sketched out and...y'know, potentially use the idol. I know, in Rob's mind, they had a 50/50 shot in picking the right person to vote out, but if he was wrong, then one of them was DEFINITELY a goner, regardless. 

I get that he was always going to be in a tight spot, though. There was no winning for Rob. The damage was done back on Sele. But him telling Adam/Ben to stay at camp and never leave definitely cemented his departure. By telling them that they can't leave camp until Tribal, he just ensured that HE would leave camp for good.

As for Yara in itself, I think Adam/Ben could have potentially made a fatal mistake if they lose immunity again next week, since Sophie/Sarah are pretty much safe and immune, and I haven't decided whether they'd get rid of Adam or Ben. On the one hand, Adam's a weasel. On the other hand, Ben has a big mouth and will tell everyone's secrets to everyone without thinking. My hope is that they'd get rid of Ben, since Adam's floundering during almost every Tribal so far has been hilarious to watch.

Now, onto the other parts of the episode. New Sele is my favourite part. It has Parvati, Yul, and Nick....oh, and the awkwardness between Michele/Wendell. I know Michele from her season, don't know Wendell at all, but was feeling bad for Wendell with what Michele was telling Parv. Not to mention the awkwardness between Nick/Parv when he confessed his crush (smart to get that out of the way before someone else did) but also proof that Yul/Parv haven't talked at all in years, since she didn't know the name of his wife.

Not too much on New Dakal, besides the fact that Kim is debating between sticking with Tony/Sandra and working with Denise and Jeremy. She's in the middle, which could either be a great thing or a horrible thing. The one thing Kim is going to need to do is ensure that she actually picks a side because if she doesn't, that could get her voted off.

[Hera]

40 minutes ago, vb68 said:

As I said in the Live Chat, Rob has always been overrated. I can't believe he thought that "buddy system" would work in an all-winners season. I can't tell if he was mega confident or freaking out in his head and super nervous.

I maintain that Rob can play only one way—one where he's in control and anyone who resists gets voted out. I suspect that what he took away from winning turn on Redemption Island is that he should have been controlling people harder on his previous three outings. That was never going to work on a season where everyone has the same credentials that he does—or better, since most of them have lost fewer seasons than he has.

3 minutes ago, tracyscott76 said:

Rob suggested they all stay at camp to avoid side conversations, and Adam and Ben went along with it. Don't really think that was bullying, more just Rob trying to hold on however he could think of, and them going along to keep Rob from trying anything else, since they were probably already committed to voting him out by that point.

I could definitely understand the urge to say, "I'll go where I want and talk to whomever I please, so fuck you," to Rob, but I agree that this was probably the rationale and it was probably the right move on the part of the other players. It's sort of like why you sometimes need to blindside someone—if you're worried that they might pull off a countermove, then you can't let them know they're a target. Similarly, if you've all previously agreed you're going to vote out Rob, you may as well play along with his "nobody leaves camp" idea, since it prevents him from scheming as much as it does everyone else.

[KaveDweller]

What I found super interesting was Sophie's comment that she gave her half of the immunity idol back to Kim before the swap. Did I hear that right? Why would she do that when earlier she said she wanted Kim out? And if she gave it back right before the swap, does that mean they knew it was happening so Kim asked for it?

Did they show Rob arriving at Edge for anyone else? I had news footage break in during the "next time on". I wanted to see Amber's reaction.

I'm finding that there is almost no one I want voted out this season. Which is odd, because I feel like I've hated so many recent winners.

[enoughcats]

Are we getting a Ponderosa this season?

And OT...a news clip from Probst that they're (TPTB're) postponing the start of filming next season's until Corona resolves itself.

 

[Lantern7]

*sigh*

You know how bad things are when you can't get joy out of the smaller things. Tonight, a jumped-up virus took the thrill out of four people getting a damn clue and voting out Rob.

I know, Edge of Extinction also takes the sting away, and the thought of "Boston Rob" rallying his way back into the game to win his second title and $2 million probably means that Probst will need his cargo shorts to be cleansed more often. But given how I feel Rob gets more powerful when he's near dummies, I'm pleasantly surprised Adam and Ben didn't fall completely under his sway.

As for the "Buddy System" and the new Yara tribe wiling away their time in a tense gathering? I'm thinking that Rob probably doesn't like stereotypes, but he would be willing to use them to get his way. In this case, the image that he projects of him being the unquestioned, untouchable Godfather of Survivor. Especially with the machete play. It's not like the others ever thought he'd kill them, but he probably did it to ensure his role as the alpha person of Yara. Well, now he's stuck on EoE, along with Tyson, Danni, and the other three players who have appeared on The Amazing Race. I might be making a mountain out of a molehill, but I don't think that's a good omen for the future of TAR.

Not much else to add. Yul might be one of the few people that could bring in a sad story about the wife of his friend and not have it be exploitative at all. Seeing Stacy Penner in that brief clip was heartbreaking. We found out that the second-rate immunity idol had two parts, and neither of them could be taken seriously. And I'm guessing the producers put the "Rob and Amber unite on EoE" egg in next week's basket. Probably the best move.

[Alice Mudgarden]

I'm not saying I want the tea on Wendell and Michele, but if anyone has the tea to spill, I'll just be over here like

[Lady Calypso]

Also, I forgot to mention this in my other post but this is probably something that does warrant its own separate post: Yul talking about Jonathan Penner and Stacy did break my heart a bit. Seeing as Penner is actually one of my favourites (I've enjoyed him in every single season he's been in), it sucks to hear about what him and his family are going through, and what Stacy, in particular, is going through. That's something I wouldn't want to wish on my worst enemy. So good on Yul for talking about ALS and bringing it to light.

I'm ok with him sharing this and the show actually putting this in, because it's important for people to know, especially when it comes to a multi-season player who, I believe, is relatively popular. 

[MerBearHou]

I had NO idea about Penner’s wife.  Yul’s emotions were heart wrenching.

Wendell posted on Instagram that the Survivors at War this season and CBS are raising funds for Stacy and ALS.  The Insta photo of Penner and Stacy is heartbreaking as you think back to when she ran in to visit Penner on the family visit during his season.

[TVFan1]

I'm with the posters that knew Rob was going when the editors had the talking head of him saying that Sele had the numbers and they could decide which of the girls would go home. When someone is that confident, it usually doesn't end up the way they say. Why did Rob think "the buddy system" would work in a group of all winners? Rob didn't bother me this season, but I'm glad that he's out of the main game.

Over on new Dakal, I wonder if Kim will stick with Tony and Sandra or go to Jeremy and Denise's side. She's in the middle over there.

No EOE this episode... good.

[Fake Jan Brady]

34 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Not much else to add. Yul might be one of the few people that could bring in a sad story about the wife of his friend and not have it be exploitative at all. Seeing Stacy Penner in that brief clip was heartbreaking. 

Because that was so randomly dropped in at the beginning, I spent the entire episode worrying there was going to be a RIP Stacy Penner screen at the end. Phew.

Yul was already my favourite winner of all time and I'm glad the show is taking the time to remind us how great he is.